Thursday, April 12, 2018

#30facesofautism - Day 12


Day 12 – Being a “mature” mother has many great benefits. One is wiser and way calmer.  In fact it really only has one downside. Toddler.  Birthday.  Parties.  I can easily imagine that for all moms over 40 with “typical” children they are simply dreadful.  I am here to tell you that when you have a child who is very busy, language delayed and with a few behavior quirks they are absolute hell on earth.  When Baby Girl was in preschool I swear to you it seemed we got invited to one a week.  That was all well and good when I had back up and Big Girl and I could two man team the situation but then she had the nerve to up and go to college.  I was left to face the brutal birthday season all alone.  There were those indoor gym places (I don’t gym), the jumpy places (I don’t jump), the over the top themed parties at the clubhouse (alright, alright I know that used to be me), pool parties (an absolute no without Big Girl backup) and then, there is…THE PARK.  Once, just once, I made the mistake of taking her to a party there alone.  I almost died people.  Died.  It was the single most stressful hour of my life.  I could not keep up with her – remember she was BLURRY.  She would not come to me when I called her.  She did not understand the danger of strangers, the street, splinters or jumping off the top of the play structure.  She did not care about the cake or the presents or even socializing with the other party goers.  The tantrum she threw when it was time to go will go down in history.  You may be asking why I went week after week.  When you are trying to face the facts early on there is a strong desire to try and experience the “normal” while teetering between denial and acceptance. Luckily our toddler years are over, I survived and Baby Girl loves a party – she will even get off the slide happily when asked. #30facesofautism



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